釋氏稽古略 4.212

4.212

東京慧林圓照禪師。名宗本（世稱大本）。生常州（浙西道）無錫管氏。年十九依蘇州（平江也）承天永安道昇禪師出家。巾侍十年剃度受具。又三年禮辭。遊方至池陽。謁天衣懷禪師悟旨。漕使李公復圭請師開法平江瑞光。法席日盛。杭州守陳公襄以承天興教二剎命師擇居。蘇人擁道遮留。又以淨慈為請移文諭道俗曰。借師三年。為此邦植福。不敢久占。至是元豐五年。詔闢相國慧林禪剎召師為第一祖。既至開法。翌日召對延和殿問道賜坐。師即跏趺。帝悅賜茶。師舉盞長吸。蕩而撼之辭退。帝目送之。謂左右曰。真福慧僧也。元豐七年駕幸相國慧林寺。詔長老宗本禪眾無煩出迎。帝升遐。召師說法福寧殿賜號圓照禪師。乞老林下。得旨任便。雲遊州郡不得抑令住持。乃辭眾曰。本是無家客。那堪任意遊。順風加櫓棹。船子下揚州。晚居平江靈巖。其嗣法傳道者不可勝紀。哲宗元符二年十二月二十八日甲子將入滅。沐浴而臥。門弟子環擁請曰。和尚道遍天下。今日不可無偈。師熟視之曰。癡子我尋常尚嬾作偈。今日特地圖作甚麼。尋常要臥便臥。不可特地今日坐也。乃索筆大書曰。後事付守榮。擲筆憨臥若熟睡眾撼之已去矣。門人塔全身於靈巖山。閱世八十五歲。坐五十二夏。師嗣天衣懷禪師。嗣師之法道者。曰修顒省聰崇信守一等。再傳如顒之有富鄭公弼。聰之有蘇黃門轍。信之有慈受禪師懷深（五燈會元碑誌）。

Chan Master Yuanzhao Zongben of Huilin in the Eastern Capital (popularly called Da Ben) was born into the Guan clan of Wuxi in Changzhou (Zhexi Circuit). At age nineteen, he renounced household life under Chan Master Daosheng of Chengtian Yong'an in Suzhou (Pingjiang). After serving him for ten years, he had his head shaved and received full ordination. Three years later, he bowed and took his leave, wandering on foot until he reached Chiyang. There he visited Chan Master Tianyi Huai and awakened to the essential intent. The Transport Commissioner Lord Li Fugui invited the master to open the Dharma at Ruiguang in Pingjiang, and his Dharma seat flourished day by day. Lord Chen Xiang, the administrator of Hangzhou, ordered the master to choose between the two monasteries Chengtian and Xingjiao for his residence. The people of Suzhou crowded the roads to block and detain him. He was then requested to take up Jingci; [Chen Xiang] issued an official dispatch to explain to the monks and laity: "We are borrowing the master for three years to plant blessings for this region, and dare not occupy him for long." By this time, in the fifth year of Yuanfeng, an imperial decree reopened Xiangguo Monastery's Huilin Chan cloister and summoned the master to be its first patriarch. After arriving and opening the Dharma, on the following day he was summoned for an audience at Yanhe Hall to inquire about the Way, and was granted a seat. The master immediately sat cross-legged. The Emperor was pleased and bestowed tea. The master raised the cup, took a long sip, swirled and shook it, and bowed to withdraw. The Emperor watched him leave with his eyes and said to his attendants, "Truly a monk of blessings and wisdom!" In the seventh year of Yuanfeng, the imperial carriage visited Huilin Monastery at Xiangguo, and a decree ordered Senior Monk Zongben and the Chan community not to trouble themselves to come out and welcome him. When the Emperor passed away, the master was summoned to preach the Dharma at Funing Hall and bestowed the title Chan Master Yuanzhao. He begged to retire to the forests in his old age; an imperial decree granted his wish, permitting him to travel like clouds through prefectures and commanderies without anyone coercing him into taking up an abbacy. He then took leave of the assembly, saying: "Originally a guest without a home, / How could I bear to wander as I please? / Catching the favorable wind, I add oars and sculls; / The boatman heads down to Yangzhou." In his late years he resided at Lingyan in Pingjiang. Those who inherited his Dharma and transmitted the Way were beyond reckoning. On the twenty-eighth day, jiazi, of the twelfth month of the second year of Yuanfu under Zhezong, as he was about to enter extinction, he bathed and lay down. The disciples gathered around and requested, "The Venerable's Way extends over the entire realm; today you cannot be without a verse." The master gazed intently at them and said, "You foolish children, normally I am still too lazy to compose verses; what special show should I make today? Normally when I want to lie down I lie down; I must not make a special point of sitting today." He then asked for a brush and wrote in large characters: "The subsequent affairs are entrusted to Shourong." Throwing down the brush, he lay peacefully as if sound asleep; when the assembly shook him, he had already departed. His disciples placed his whole body in a stupa on Mount Lingyan. He passed through eighty-five years of worldly age and sat fifty-two summer retreats. The master was a dharma heir of Chan Master Tianyi Huai. Those who inherited the master's Dharma and Way were Xiuyong, Shengcong, Chongxin, Shouyi, and others. In the next generation, Yong had Fu Bi, Duke of Zheng; Cong had Su Che, Gentleman of the Yellow Gate; and Xin had Chan Master Cishou Huaishen (Wudeng huiyuan beizhi).